


Safety Precautions

by sunkist (shadowkissed)



Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: A lot of kissing, Bodyguard Choi Soobin, Coming Out, Established Relationship, Fluff, Idol Choi Beomgyu, M/M, Mentioned hate comments, Mild Angst, and then more kissing, mentioned Homophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:15:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23079223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowkissed/pseuds/sunkist
Summary: Choi Beomgyu is a famous idol and Soobin is his bodyguard who is very much in love with him.
Relationships: Choi Beomgyu/Choi Soobin
Comments: 5
Kudos: 251





	Safety Precautions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [heartrecord](https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartrecord/gifts).



“Excuse me… we’re coming through. Please step aside so you won’t get hurt, yes, thank you so much,” Soobin murmured as they went through the sea of fans and reporters. Some people respectfully stepped back after Soobin’s hand came up to shield Beomgyu from their phone cameras, but there were always some adamant ones, those who shoved cameras in the idol’s face for a photo of his pores. 

In the end, Soobin had to position himself in a more protective way around the smaller male, making the way with his elbow, and shielding Beomgyu completely with his bigger frame. 

As they walked towards the car, he heard Beomgyu’s muffled laughter as he turned his face to nuzzle into Soobin’s shoulder. It made him freeze for a split second, before he jerked back into reality when someone was slammed against his back. 

He glared at the source of intrusion, catching a teenage girl shot him a scared look before apologizing profusely. 

“Please behave like a human being so anyone won’t get hurt,” he said in the end, exasperated.

In the end, Beomgyu safely got into his car while Soobin got into the driver’s seat. After all, it was his responsibility to keep the idol safe at all time, and traffic safety was included at times. Especially after such a hectic arrival.

Choi Beomgyu had become a hot thing in the entertainment industry these days..

Three years after his debut as a solo artist, his songs could always be seen decorating the top spots in the chart. Supported by his visual and variety skill, it was easy to get a lot of offers that led to more exposure for him. 

His last attendance in Paris’ Fashion Week had become the headlines of so many news sites and magazines, so it was to be expected that everyone would want to see a piece of him after his two weeks stay in Europe. 

Soobin just stayed quiet as the manager listed a few things that they had to do the following day, but for today, they could just drop the guy at the company and Soobin would drive him back to his apartment. It’s the usual protocol after every overseas gig. Except, the company didn’t know that Soobin never left Beomgyu’s place. 

Safety precautions.

“What was that?” he asked, eyeing the younger idol from the rearview mirror as they were stuck in a traffic jam. He could only speak now because it’s just the two of them. 

After all, it’s not appropriate for him to speak with his employer as if they were friends. 

“What was what?” Beomgyu arched a brow, lifting his gaze from his phone to look at Soobin. 

“The thing you did at the airport.”

Beomgyu tilted his head to a side, looking like a clueless puppy at first, before a spark glinted across his eyes. The innocence turned into mischief in a blink of eye. 

“Love it when you’re protecting me. Did you see yourself there? Acting all tough? Hot,” he said, discarding his phone aside and leaning forward to rest his chin on the backrest of the driver’s seat. “You’re usually all soft and gentle, but you can bodyslam people when it comes to protecting me.”

“Cause it’s my job… but idols don’t usually do that sort of thing with their bodyguards.”

“You sounded like my manager,” he rolled his eyes. “And some idols do that with their boyfriends, why can’t I?”

“Because your boyfriend is not a public figure?” he offered. 

“Details. Just keep protecting me from the bad traffic, Bodyguard!” Beomgyu said, pressing a peck on the back of Soobin’s ear before he leaned back on his seat. He connected his phone to the bluetooth speaker and started blasting some loud girlgroup songs; typical of Beomgyu’s way of ending a conversation that he didn’t want to be included in. 

Soobin sighed and went back to focus on his driving. The tips of his ears were red because of the kiss, and he knew that the idol was aware of the effect he had on Soobin, since he’s smirking as he went back to scrolling through his phone. 

Sometimes, he’s regretting his decision to date his employer. 

Most of the time, he  _ knew  _ that there’s no way he wouldn’t be in love with Choi Beomgyu.

He wouldn’t trade this kind of moment with anything; the warmth of being in Beomgyu’s bed, with his cheek smushed against his boyfriend’s tummy as he drifted to light slumber. The feeling of Beomgyu’s fingers absently playing with his hair while his other hand navigated through the internet. Most importantly, it’s also the feeling of being right where he’s supposed to be. 

“What was that?” he mumbled sleepily upon hearing a faint sound of camera shutter so close to his face.

“Uhh, nothing?” 

His sluggish mind made it hard for him to think, so he just nodded as he was ready to fall back asleep. That was until something clicked in his head, and he opened his eyes in a snap. Beomgyu, who was stealing glances at him, jerked on his spot, accidentally tugging on Soobin’s dark locks. 

“What did you do?” he asked, voice an octave deeper because of the sleep that it might have come off a little scarier. The fact that Beomgyu behaved even more frantically just confirmed his suspicion. “Choi Beomgyu,” he said in a warning. 

“It’s just… instagram? My private one-- HEY!”

Beomgyu tried to get away, but it was hard to do when his legs were already numb from Soobin’s weight. He could only lie down there in defeat as Soobin crawled up to his face level and snatched his phone away. Soobin even pinned down both his hands under his weight so he wouldn’t attempt anything when the guy deleted the picture he just posted.

It was a close up picture of Soobin when he was asleep, just a moment ago. 

“That could have gone badly. What were you thinking?” Soobin directed his eyes back to the trapped male beneath him, making him flinch from the disapproval in his gaze. 

“I’m sorry… you’re just super cute and I wanted to share it with my friends. You’re my boyfriend. I want to do that too, for once.”

“It’s not safe even if it’s your private account, Beom… there are people who want to destroy you out there,” Soobin said with a sigh. His gaze melted into a tired one, and Beomgyu dropped his eyes to not see it. 

“I know, I’m sorry… i’m always so dumb.”

As usual, it’s hard to stay mad at him for so long, especially with that dejected look in his eyes. 

“Hey,” Soobin called out softly, shifting his position not to squeeze the younger down anymore. “I love you, you know that, right?” 

He cupped Beomgyu’s cheek with a hand, coaxing him to look up into his eyes. The silver haired male was still pouting, but his expression softened too as he leaned into the warmth of Soobin’s hand, rubbing his cheek against it. 

“I love you too, hyung,” he said, shying away a little under Soobin’s deep stare. 

It’s always cute how Beomgyu’s usually the playful and flirty one, yet he got shy easily when it came to this kind of moment. 

This kind of moment, as in the one where Soobin took his time to trace his lips along the side of Beomgyu’s face. Lips caressing the soft skin until they found Beomgyu’s lips, teasing along the bottom tier before they were melded together in a soft, chaste kiss. It’s the kind of moment where Soobin didn’t need to let go of the kiss so soon. One soft kiss followed by a few more pecks and deep kisses, to the point that Beomgyu could still feel a trace of Soobin’s lips on his once he pulled away. 

It’s the kind of moment where Soobin didn’t have to share his Beomgyu with everyone else. Only he could see the pretty shade of pink decorating Beomgyu’s cheeks and his glistening lips under the lighting of the room. 

Only at this moment they don’t have to worry about anything else.

“Being like this… it’s enough, right? Just us?” Soobin asks, resting his forehead against Beomgyu’s as he inhales deeply. 

“For now…” Beomgyu breaks into a grin when the latter frown at his answer, tipping his head back so he can gently nip on the tip of soobin’s nose. “I still want that trip you promised me.”

-

The trip was a one night trip to Jeju on the only days Beomgyu’s schedule was freed before he had to make his summer comeback. It’s categorized under private trip, so he was not obligated to bring anyone from his company, yet he still made excuses to bring Soobin.

Safety precautions.

“Honeymoon resort, really?” Soobin deadpans. 

Beomgyu has booked them a beautiful place, sure. When they walked into the bedroom, a view of a big window facing the ocean greeted them, and then once they got over the fascination, they noticed rose petals scattered on top of the neatly prepared bed and unlit candles on the bedside table. 

“Isn’t this just a perfect place for us, though? We’re still in our honeymoon phase!”

“We’ve been dating for a year…”

“A year without going out on a proper date,” Beomgyu pouted at him from where he was sitting on the edge of the bed. “You have to make it up to me these two days.”

After contemplating just for a moment, Soobin finally stepped forward, cupping Beomgyu’s cheeks in his hands. The sight of his wide palms engulfing Beomgyu’s small face always entertained him. But this time it’s purely fond when he leaned in and pressed a kiss on top of his silver locks. 

“Anything for you, m’lord.”

“And no business talks! You’re not here as my bodyguard, just my boyfriend.”

At that, Soobin looked down at what he’s wearing. He usually always wore suits, or at least a dress shirt whenever he had to do his bodyguard duties. Today was no different since he had his long sleeved shirt on, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. 

“Including my clothes?”

Beomgyu gave him a look. 

That’s how he ended up like this, walking down the street with his employer next to him, but wearing only a pair of jeans and a sweater. This was a really strange occasion for him since all year long he’s usually only walking by Beomgyu in public for work purposes. 

Today, Choi Beomgyu was holding onto his hand as they walked down the street. Choi Beomgyu would cling onto his arm and tugging it whenever he spotted a cute souvenir on a street stall. Choi Beomgyu would lace their fingers together, put them inside the front pocket of Soobin’s sweater, and then complain because it’s too hot. 

“Seriously, more corn dogs?” Soobin stared at him incredulously as they stopped at another street food stall. 

“This one is dipped in fries!”

“Twenty minutes ago you gave me half of yours because you said you were already full!”

“So many things could happen in twenty minutes!” 

Clicking his tongue, Soobin decided to lift Beomgyu up by his waist and throw him over a shoulder, carrying him through the sea of people to get away from the poor corndog that Beomgu was not going to eat properly. 

Instead of whining, the idol was laughing instead, hanging limp when he was being carried and tightly holding onto Soobin’s shirt. He was only being let down when Soobin spotted a stall selling cotton candies in pretty shapes. 

They got a dinosaur shaped one to share between them. Soobin smacked Beomgyu on the face with the cotton candy, and promised to kiss all the sweets away when Beomgyu glared at him. He ignored further complaints as he slowly ate the sweets.

“Want to visit the museum? It might be boring, but it’s a favourite tourist destination for foreigners and I’ve never even visited…” he trailed off when he realized Beomgyu was not by his side anymore. His heart dropped in a panic, eyes frantically searched the crowd for any sign of the silver haired male. 

His mind had raced into 12 possibilities on why Beomgyu disappeared from his side, and it just kept getting worse. 

“Hey, missed me?” Beomgyu suddenly appeared by his side again after a few minutes, making him sigh in relief but also frown.

“Don’t just disappear like that!”

The idol blinked, pointing at a bear mask he had over his mouth before handing one to Soobin. It had bunny nose printed on it. Honestly, it was difficult to stay mad at the male when he looked adorable with the character mask. 

“Suddenly?” Soobin arched a brow in amusement, only to have his smile covered as the other put the mask on him. 

“Safety precautions!”

“Did someone recognize you?” he looked around to see if anyone else was looking at them. it had been so reckless of them to just walk around like this without any disguise for Beomgyu. Before he could catch anyone, his boyfriend already took his hand and dragged him to walk again. 

“Let’s check out the museum!”

As the sun started to set, they found their way to the beach. A tapestry of orange and violet coloring the sky behind them as they walked, lightly kicking the sand. 

“Wanna swim? The water looks crazy though!” Beomgyu said, yelling as the wave crashed against his feet. It’s good that they already took off their shoes just a moment ago. The water had risen and it didn’t seem like a good time to swim anymore.

“I’m glad you realized, besides I can’t swim.”

“No way.”

“It’s true! I don’t have many fears, but I can’t stand water…” he trailed off when he felt Beomgyu’s eyes still fixed on him, and suddenly he regretted telling him about this since it just gave him weird ideas. It’s not hard to know that since he could see it on the mischievous smile across the idol’s lips. 

“You know what we should do?”

“Don’t you dare…”

Soobin broke into a run soon after that as the smaller male tried to jump at him, making it a few steps away before he tripped on his own feet and fell onto the wet sand. The sudden stop had Beomgyu crashing onto him, losing his balance and about to fall face first onto the sand if only it wasn’t for Soobin’s arms catching him.

They were rolling on the sand when the water hit them. Their gleeful laughter was swallowed by the wave and they got sand everywhere; under their clothes, sticking on their limbs. Beomgyu kissed the salt away from Soobin's lips once he stopped laughing and Soobin decided that he might have found something he loved better than sweets. 

When the night came, they sat on the floor facing the big window that displayed everything for them. They could see the dark ocean, city light from across the sea, and the sky full of stars. It might be due to the comfort, tiredness, or the cans of beers that they were drinking that Beomgyu’s smile dropped into a sad one. 

Soobin frowned as he spotted that, nuzzling into his silver locks when Beomgyu rested his head on his shoulder.

"This whole idol thing, I can't do this without you,” he said suddenly.

That made Soobin silent for a moment, squeezing his boyfriend’s hand on top of his lap.

"You're the strongest person I've ever met, Beom. You debuted so young, enduring all those hardships and now reaping the results. I've been watching you for years, how you’d break down at night, but rise up stronger in the morning. How you face challenges head first, no matter how difficult it is. I fell in love watching you, and I know you'd still do well without me." 

His words painted a pretty pink on Beomgyu’s cheeks, but he only gave a light punch on his thigh with their locked hands before he held onto Soobin’s bigger one with both of his. It’s as if Soobin was going to slip away if he didn’t hold him this way. He guessed that this was just the effect of alcohol on him.

"Please don't ever leave me." 

"You think I’d willingly do that? How offensive," Soobin sighed, an amused smile on his lips as he tapped Beomgyu's chin, making him look up to look at the taller male. "You can say that whenever. you know? your wish is my command." 

Beomgyu smiled at that, linking his pinky finger with Soobin’s. “Promise?”

“Promise.

It’s as if he knew what would happen when they got back from this vacation. Everything went too perfectly well, almost like a fever dream. But nothing could ever be that perfect. Not even their relationship. 

-

The bad news came as soon as they landed in Incheon. Nobody should have known their flight, as this was not a business trip and the airline shouldn’t be allowed to inform the reporters, yet as they checked out their luggages and left the safety of the airport’s waiting room, they could already see a swarm of reporters and fans outside. 

“What the heck? This isn’t right,” Beomgyu mumbled next to him, inching closer and almost hiding behind Soobin’s bigger frame. 

They hesitated to go out for a bit until Soobin received a call that the company car was already waiting for them. The challenge was just to get through the sea of meddling people. Even worse, Beomgyu only had Soobin to protect him since they didn’t have the support of the airport’s security unlike for business flights.

Soobin held onto his hand so tightly not to lose him among all the people, pulling the idol through snaps of cameras and yelled out questions. He could feel Beomgyu’s hand trembling inside his hold, and both of them could only breathe again once they were safe inside of the car. 

The company driver eyed them through the rearview mirror, staring at Soobin for a tad bit longer before he started driving. 

“What’s going on?” he asked, a bad feeling brewing in his stomach.

The driver just shook his head, a sympathetical look on his smile. “Bad news.”

The bad news came as they sat down in the conference room of their company building. It came in the form of a backhanded slap across Soobin’s face that left his cheek red and stinging. It hurt, but it hurt more when Beomgyu had to get up from his seat to stand in between his manager and bodyguard. 

“Hyung, what the fuck?” he shouted. 

“Mind your language, young man. He’s seen it coming.”

It’s true that Soobin had seen it coming the moment he walked into the company building and saw more reporters outside. Worst of all, he noticed that they were asking  _ him _ questions, and not Beomgyu. 

It only made sense once the manager made them sit in this room, opening a laptop to show them various news headlines. Printed in big bold letter, titles like ‘Choi Beomgyu <3 His Bodyguard, Honeymoon Resort?’, ‘Choi’s First Dating Scandal’, ‘Choi Beomgyu’s Saucy Forbidden Love’, or ‘Choi Beomgyu’s Boyfriend’.

“We hired you to guard the idol’s safety, not to fuck him, Choi Soobin!”

Soobin’s face burned in shame, even as Beomgyu yelled at his manager again, this time to stop. 

“Years of training and building a name of yourself, and you’re doing this, Beomgyu? Are you ready to throw away your whole career just because of a lowly bodyguard?” 

“Yes I would! Stop going overboard before I fire you!” Beomgyu yelled, but flinched backwards when the manager raised his hand. 

At this, Soobin got up from his seat and pushed the idol to sit down instead. He just stared at the angry man silently before folding his body in a deep bow. It’s the deepest kind of apology he could offer for now, or maybe he could take more hits. But he couldn’t let Beomgyu lose someone who had supported him for years just because of him.

It’s just bad news after bad news after that. 

The internet and gossip shows wouldn’t stop talking Beomgyu, to the point that he had to turn off all the TVs in the building and stop connecting his phone from the internet. The impending summer comeback was scheduled to be launched at the end of the month, but even that had to be postponed indefinitely. 

While Beomgyu avoided the internet like a plague, Soobin took his time to surf the internet, reading a lot of various comments; there were some that still waited for Choi Beomgyu’s statement to decide, believing that there had to be some kind of mistakes even as the headline exposed several pictures of them holding hands in that street and one of Soobin kissing Beomgyu’s cheek. Some were straight-up homophobic, calling them names that Soobin would never let Beomgyu read. Some people even made a petition for Beomgyu to quit the industry. 

That’s the last strike. 

Soobin pushed the white envelope across the table, eyes cast down to not meet Beomgyu's. He had asked the male to meet at one of the company’s smaller meeting rooms, not wanting to discuss this when they were home.

"What is it?" the male asked. His voice was calm, but Soobin was not easily fooled since he could see the tremble in Beomgyu's fingers when he picked it up. "A resignation letter." 

"You're my employer. I've done a very inappropriate thing by dating you. it's like taking advantage of your kindness when you've fed me."

"What the hell, Choi Soobin?" 

"So I have to resign. Especially now that it started to affect your career. After all, a bodyguard has to protect their employer, and it includes the employer's career." 

"No… no…” Beomgyu lifted a hand to try stopping him, but Soobin had prepared a whole farewell speech in his head. 

He would break down if he didn’t follow the script, or let Beomgyu talk him out of it.

"I already talked to the higher ups. This is just formality… a kind of goodbye? Since I mostly worked with you," Soobin offered him a smile, stepping back and bowing ninety hundred degrees. "It's been a pleasure."

"Soobin-ah…  _ hyung…  _ you can't do this to me," Beomgyu started, and Soobin really couldn't stay there when the male sounded like he's on the verge of crying. "I can't do this without you." 

"Thank you for everything," he said hastily, not meeting the latter's eyes when he turned around and walked steadily to the door. 

Even as he was leaving, he could hear Beomgyu's breathing caught in his throat, and how he was almost hyperventilating, but swallowing his words. That's typical of him to do that when he was very sad. He closed himself up, hiding inside an unbreakable shell. 

Any other day, Beomgyu would let Soobin in to comfort him. Today, Soobin was walking away. 

When he turned around to close the door, he saw Beomgyu on the floor with a crumpled envelope lying near his knee. His hand was clutching onto his chest while the other one clasped over his mouth. Probably stifling his sobs. Probably holding himself back from calling Soobin's name. 

Whatever it is, it's not his problem anymore. 

It's not his job to protect Choi Beomgyu anymore. 

-

It’s a bad idea to stay in a place belonging to their mutual friends, but Soobin did not know a world that was not connected with Choi Beomgyu. For years, all he had been doing was following the idol and protecting him, so their circle of friends and acquaintances was mostly the same. It’s not a surprise when Soobin found himself in the doorstep of Yeonjun’s apartment.The fact that Choi Yeonjun was the company’s in-house producer didn’t make his decision sound any better.

“You fucked up big time, Soobin, but it will pass,” Yeonjun said once Soobin spilled everything to him - a requirement if he wanted to stay there for a while. “No one can resist my song, or his talent. They will move on from this and Beomgyu would still be famous.”

“I know… there’s no way they wouldn’t love him…”

“So why are you here?”

Soobin lifted his head, eyeing the blue haired male who’s eyeing him. He couldn’t even eat his spaghetti in peace.

“What do you mean? I just told you why I came here.”

The producer clicked his tongue in dismay, impatient. “I mean… Why are you here, hiding like a coward instead of being with Beomgyu when he needs you the most?”

The food tasted bitter on his tongue when Soobin shoved a bunch into his mouth to avoid answering that question. 

After a long week of cooling down, the company finally announced a press conference. 

It would be aired live across some streaming sites, and even on one TV channel. The scale of this scandal didn’t seem big enough, yet the company had made sure that everyone would watch it and maybe change the people’s mind about cancelling the idol. 

After working with an idol for so long, Soobin had known the way it works, so he didn’t worry much. The company would be given a list of questions from chosen reporters, and they would create answers that Beomgyu would have to memorize. If the idol did well today, everything would fall back in place by the next day. The company knew what it was doing to manipulate people’s sympathy.

He watched as Beomgyu stared at the camera, answering every question impassively like a robot. This was not the Choi Beomgyu everyone used to see smiling and laughing on variety shows or shooting hearts at his fans. And certainly not the Choi Beomgyu who smiled at him and called him stupid in the fondest way.

"Is it true that you're dating your bodyguard?" 

"It was indeed, true"

"What is the step that you and the company are taking to deal with this dating scandal?" 

"He's already fired and everything should be back to normal now. There's nothing to worry about."

“Are you going to sue that paparazzi for invasion of privacy?”

“As for today, there is no plan for that, but I will leave that for the company to decide.”

“Is there any regret? Being outed against your will?”

At this question, Beomgyu took a long pause. Soobin could see how his jaws were clenched and his eyes firmed up. 

He knew this look from whenever Beomgyu wanted to reply to some misinformation newsite on social media, nagging about how he couldn’t accept distorted truth. Or when he had to swallow up his complaints when the company made him do something he didn’t want. The freshest one in Soobin’s memory was the same look Beomgyu had in his face when he found out Soobin had been reading the netizens’ comments about their relationship.

It was dead silent aside from the camera shutters sound until Beomgyu did speak again.

“Being outed does suck, and I wouldn’t wish for anyone to go through this especially if they are not ready,” Beomgyu picked up the mic to answer, staring straight into the camera - into the screen. “But I’m not ashamed of my identity and sexual orientation. I never had any intention to hide it.

“It’s unfortunate that you have to find out this way, but I never regret the fact that this incident exposed that side of me nor do I regret dating Choi Soobin despite him being my bodyguard. As he is not my bodyguard anymore, I don’t see any problem with our relationship, and I hope the fans will support my decision, and  _ us _ .”

Soobin had been staring at the screen with his mouth open for the whole time. This was definitely not something written on the screen, especially judging from the way his manager looked like he wanted to end the press conference right there. 

In the end, Beomgyu was the one ending it after that statement, putting his mic back on the table, and bowed to the reporters without answering the flood of questions that stemmed from his controversial words. 

“He’s got guts, that little man,” Yeonjun chimed in, after being silent throughout the whole live report from the press conference. 

“No, he just risked his whole career… and we’re not even together anymore. He could’ve defamed me, or just say that I took advantage of him and it would be better for the public’s eyes that he’s the victim, but… but,” Soobin was freaking out, messing up his hair and tugging on the locks with his fingers. “Oh god, why would he do that?” 

Yeonjun was watching him sympathetically when he turned to look at the elder, before sighing and shaking his head in defeat. “You’re so hopeless. It’s obviously because he’s still in love with you, you idiot.” 

“I know that! But I left him so he could recover from this scandal, and he just went and did this? I don’t want people to hate him, hyung.”

“He’s proud of his identity and you should be proud of him for being brave and saying all that, not just thinking about his career,” Yeonjun started to get pissed off watching how Soobin was still having a mini breakdown. “Career can be destroyed at any random times, so he sure knows his priority.”

At that, Soobin snapped his gaze to look at the blue haired male, frowning and still on the verge of crying of frustration. 

“He picked you over all that trivial stuff, idiot,” Yeonjun flicked his forehead, grinning when he yelped. “Go back to him… or maybe just, answer his call. It’s been 7 times.”

As if on cue, his phone started vibrating again on the table. Soobin had forgotten about it as he was too engrossed in watching the press conference and having a meltdown about it afterwards. It’s true that Beomgyu had been calling him. While he was still hesitating, Yeonjun snatched the device from the table, swiping the button to answer the call, and threw it on Soobin’s lap. 

_ What the fuck?  _ Soobin mouthed at him, but finally picked up the phone and put it against his ear. 

_ “You picked up… you… I hate you so much.” _

Soobin froze. How many days had it been already since the last time he saw Beomgyu? After years of seeing each other everyday, he wasn’t familiar with the concept of missing him, and everything just hit him now as he heard Beomgyu’s voice. 

It was clear that the idol had been crying, probably cried right after he was out of the camera range, and Soobin was not there to hold him. It’s justified. The hate. 

“I know.”

_ “I can’t believe you just left me like that. After what we’ve been through? After what I told you?”  _ he continued, probably already had the whole thing scripted and ready to be shouted at Soobin 30 missed calls ago. But then his voice sounded choked, a whisper coming out instead of lectures. “ _ I can’t… I can’t do this without you.” _

It’s punctuated by a sob, and Soobin’s heart broke in his chest. 

“Stop underestimating yourself, Beomgyu. You did very well even without me, you handled the press conference nicely.”

_ “But I can’t… can’t deal with not having you here. Can’t… don’t want to think that you don’t love me anymore cause of this mess.” _

Soobin took a deep breath, tilting his head back against the backrest of the couch to not let his tears fall. He didn’t want to cry when Yeonjun was listening next to him. 

“I’m always in love with you. Nothing can change that.”

There’s a hitch of breath from the other line, and then a breath of relief before Beomgyu spoke again.  _ “Then how come you are at Yeonjun hyung’s place and not here with me?” _

Soobin choked, sitting up straight and threw a panicked look to a confused Yeonjun.  _ He knows I’m here _ , he mouthed. 

“I already quit the job, and we’re not together anymore, Beom.”

_ “Bullshit. We never broke up!” _ Beomgyu yelled through the line, now sounded more angered than sad.  _ “It’s not written in that resignation letter, so if you want to break up, come and say it to my face, coward!” _

The sudden outburst of anger was punctuated by a click that signed the end of the call. It left Soobin dumbfoundedly stare at his phone, and then back at Yeonjun who already started to urge him to tell him what’s happening. 

“He wanted me to break up with him.”

-

When Soobin found his way to Beomgyu’s apartment, he already felt like stepping into a foreign place despite having lived there for a while. Just a few days ago he had packed his belongings, leaving the apartment half empty since Beomgyu was never one to decorate or leave his stuff lying around. It also had something to do with the fact that the front door was flocked by paparazzi, leaving him no option other than to sneak around the building to go in through the basement. 

His steps were heavy as he dragged himself out of the elevator, punching in the pin to enter the penthouse.

There was no sign of Beomgyu for a while, until he felt something slammed onto him from behind and a pair of arms snuck around his middle. It felt warm and familiar that he wasn’t sent into defensive mode, also because his chest tightened from how much he had missed this. 

“Choi Soobin, I command you to never leave me.”

“Beomgyu…” he took a deep breath, placing his hand on top of Beomgyu’s trembling one. “You know what I’m here for.”

“No… no…” Beomgyu sounded so broken. His voice hoarse, probably from hours of crying already, and it broke Soobin’s heart that he had to be the cause of this. After his vow to always protect Beomgyu and not let anyone hurt him in any way. “Please don’t do this… Soobin, not you too. Please. You said my wish is your command. You said…” 

Beomgyu was clutching onto his shirt so hard he could as well rip it, so it was hard to peel his fingers off from the fabric. Especially when the male panicked, thinking that Soobin was getting rid of him. 

A soft gasp escaped his lips when Soobin turned around and cupped his face instead of walking away, and then his words were stolen by Soobin’s lips pressing on top of his own. It’s not their usual soft and sweet kiss, but rather a desperate one, filled by longing. Beomgyu blinked his eyes slowly when he pulled away, tears clinging onto his eyelashes. How he still looked so beautiful even when he was being a mess, Soobin couldn’t comprehend it.

“You’re making it hard for me,” he said in a whisper, shutting his eyes to not see the way Beomgyu looked at him. “You think I’m not broken? Whatever I do, I’ll just end up hurting you anyway. I made your fans turn on you, made you get caught up on this mess, and now I even made you cry like this.”

Beomgyu shook his head frantically, slapping him on the chest and glaring at him to make him stop talking. “ _ I _ got you caught up in this mess. I knew the risk of our relationship when we started dating, when I started falling in love with you, yet I wanted to be selfish for once and still dragged you into my life.”

“Stupid. It’s not that you forced me.”

“No. I took advantage of you, wanting you to always be close with me, so I didn’t make you stop being my bodyguard and I exposed you to all these… this life you never wanted,” he spilled all the words perfectly as if he had been thinking of it for a while, furiously brushing his tears away with his fists. “I dragged your name through the mud, knowing that people would speak badly because they are just faceless people on the internet who doesn’t care about what we feel. I never wanted this for you.

But I also don’t want you to leave me. Please give me one more chance…”

Soobin shook his head, regretting it when Beomgyu bit down onto his lower lip so hard it might have bled. 

“One more chance for what, Beomgyu? We can’t do anything about it. Just like what you said in the press conference, I'm leaving. It’s for the best.”

“You left the company, that’s true, but you can still stay as my boyfriend. Why can’t you just be my boyfriend?” 

“People will never forget about this issue as long as I’m still seen with you.”

“Fuck them and their opinions,” Beomgyu snapped, now sounding more angry than sad. At least his tears dried up and he was not shaking anymore, though he still desperately held onto Soobin’s shirt. “We can’t do anything about it anymore, but please stay with me. I’ll handle whatever comes next.”

“And I’m supposed to be protecting you…” Soobin winced when the latter smacked him again. 

“You’re not my bodyguard anymore so act like it!” he yelled, making him blink slowly at the sudden anger directed at him. “Let me protect you this time.”

That little promise held by the resolution in Beomgyu’s voice made Soobin’s heart melt, just as it always did for the male. It was already hard to come into this decision to leave without discussing it, but now Beomgyu tried so hard to make him stay. The fear in his eyes was poorly masked by a firm resolution, and his hand started to shake again when Soobin dragged the silence. 

“Beomgyu…”

“No, don’t call my name like that if you’re going to say no! Please take me back, please?”

Would this be worth all the hate Beomgyu was getting?

“I’m sorry…” he finally breathed out, watching as tears sprung up in Beomgyu’s eyes again. So he quickly cupped the boy’s face with a hand. “I’m sorry for leaving you like that. I was a coward and I don’t deserve you at all, but I love you. And I want to stay with you for however long you still want me.” 

The sob that escaped Beomgyu’s lips was a more relieved one this time. He nodded at his words, leaning into the touch on his cheek. When he shut his eyes, a drop of tear rolled off his cheek and Soobin caught it with his fingers. 

“Don’t ever do that again, you idiot. I almost begged you.” 

He didn’t have the heart to tell the idol that he in fact, had begged already. “Stop crying. It doesn’t look good on you,” he joked, wincing when Beomgyu bit his thumb. 

As he dropped his arms to loop around Beomgyu’s small waist and pulled him in a hug, the idol slid his arms around his shoulders, jumping up to cling onto him. His legs gripped on either sides of his waist and locked at the small of his back. Smiling fondly, Soobin carried him all the way to the bedroom, hitting the mattress on his back and letting Beomgyu lie down on top of him. 

“What are you going to do now?” Beomgyu said after a period of comforting silence that could’ve lulled him to sleep. He lifted his head to look at his boyfriend, resting his chin on top of his chest. “You’re probably going to be scouted as a model or something. I’ve seen people admiring your looks in the midst of hate comments.”

“Well, for a starter, I can’t follow you around on schedules anymore, so we’re going to see each other a lot less now,” Beomgyu scrunched up his nose in dislike towards the idea. “So when you start to get busy again later, I’m going to do this thing I’ve wanted to do for a while.”

“You have something you want to do, and didn’t tell me about it?” Beomgyu jerked up into a sitting position, glaring down at him. 

“If I had told you, you’re going to have me fired a lot earlier than this.”

Soobin laughed when the younger slouched back down in defeat, resting his hand on top of the messy silver locks and messing up some more with them. His heartbeat had slowed down now as he enjoyed the comfort, especially with Beomgyu nuzzling into his chest like this. It’s as if none of the mess happened outside and they were safe in this little cocoon of their own world.

“But you’re going to stay, right?” Beomgyu mumbled, hand seeking for his until Soobin took it and laced their fingers together. He brought it up to his lips, pressing kisses to his knuckles. 

“Always.”

(“Beom?”

“Hm…” 

“Thanks for not giving up on me.”)

-

“You know, the owner of this bakery was in a scandal a few years ago.”

“Really? What kind?”

“Dating scandal with that daesang artist Choi Beomgyu.”

“He got a daesang even after a dating scandal? Just how much power does he hold?”

“That’s why I told you to listen to his songs! Oh wait, it’s playing now. See? I guess they’re still a thing, then!”

Soobin was laughing silently behind the back of his palm as he listened to the conversation of two teenagers who were enjoying some pastries and latte. Even after years, some people still talked about the so-called scandal, but Soobin didn’t think of it as something bad anymore. 

Sure, Beomgyu’s career took a bad hit from that, and for a while after that, he was only known as that queer idol who dated his bodyguard. Eventually, Beomgyu started releasing more music, and it’s impossible for the general population to ignore them when they were becoming hits. 

While Beomgyu had to work twice as hard to recover from that scandal, Soobin had busied himself with the opening of his bakery. It had been his dream for a while to go to work where he could smell pastries all day, even though he couldn’t really bake. Being the manager, he only had to control the store, and still fulfilled his dream. 

Not long after the two girls left, the bell on top of the door tinkled. Soobin didn’t need to turn around from his breads to recognize the newcomer just from the sound of his light footsteps across the wooden floor. 

He didn’t flinch when Beomgyu hugged him from behind and started nuzzling into his back. 

“Tired?” he asked, a hand rested on top of Beomgyu and drawing comforting circles on the back of his palm with his thumb. 

“Yeah, the new bodyguard shoved my fans around and I think three of them got injured today,” he said in a mumble, ending it with a tired sigh. “Sometimes I miss having you as my bodyguard.”

Soobin laughed. “I’m sure Jihoon-ssi just got over-excited when protecting you. Besides, I saw that the mobbing was getting worse.”

“Yeah… I don’t want to go to the airport during the day anymore. Wish they could just sneak me in a cleaning truck or something.”

“Nice idea, you’re so small you could fit in their cleaning supply bag.”

“HEY!”

Shaking his head, Soobin turned around to give him a proper hug, tilting his head up by his chin to press a kiss to his lips. “You’re going to scare off my customer. Let’s go into the manager room so you can catch me up on how your Japan tour went.”

“I’m still wondering why you’d create a manager room when you don’t even work behind the desk…”

“Just for this purpose,” Soobin said, sneaking a hand behind Beomgyu’s lithe waist to cushion the impact as he pushed the shorter male against the door once it closed behind them. “I need to be able to kiss you where my breads aren’t watching.”

“You’re an idiot, why am I in love with you?” 

Soobin grinned at that, but he didn’t need to answer since Beomgyu already pulled him into a kiss. He smiled into the kiss, free hand coming up to lock the door so no one could come in when they’re busy making out. 

Safety precautions. 

**Author's Note:**

> the prompt is from Emi who always discusses soogyu prompts with me and make me cry, it's initially "bodyguard soobin and idol beomgyu. beomgyu gets frustrated because he wants to be open about his relationship with soobin but can't because it's frowned upon. one day they go somewhere together without anyone knowing" 
> 
> come drop prompts in my [dm](https://twitter.com/soogyulvr)  
> also tell me what you think... maybe?


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